Haim Toledano on the Latest Biotech Trends

Biotechnology uses living organisms and a systems integrated into products or the development of products. These technologies are making a massive difference in how new products, medicines and antibiotics are developed and is transforming our understanding of how we can use microorganisms. So what are the latest trends in biotechnology that are up and coming for the rest of 2017? We asked Haim Toledano, a biotech investor to give us his top 5 picks:

Immuno-oncoly Area

This sub-sector of healthcare has been making leaps and bounds in the world of cancer treatment. With antibodies like Herceptin and Perjeta changing the way that late stage melanoma is being treated, there have been notable increases in their sales and are starting to be approved for lung cancer treatment. With cancer treatment having been at the front of medical research for such a long time, these drugs making headway into the fight against cancer are an exciting prospect and one to keep an eye on for the future.

2.New Idea for Treating Alzheimers

With the rise of dementia, particularly Alzheimers, related deaths having been in the news recently it is understandably one of the biggest problems our society faces as life expectancy increases and populations age. Though the medical world has been researching into the treatment of Alzheimers for years there is yet to be an effective response. A new way of thinking, however, is that by stopping the immune system removing the synapses we use for neuronal function we can reduce the symptoms of the disease before it makes irreparable damage.

3.Legalization of Marijuana

As more and more states and countries are considering the legalization of this drugs, it opens up the world of medicine to exploring all of its medical positives. Though the drug has been made widely available for use as medical marijuana there is still a lot of headway to be made and there is a belief that legalizing cannabis may influence cannabinoid based medicines far more than scientific laws ever have done. There are plenty of well known positive effects of controlled use of the drug and by legalizing marijuana on a greater scale it opens the scope for further research.

Studying Moving Images

This might sound like a fairly simple idea, however it is one that could change the face of biotechnology as we know it. With many of the targets that scientists want to bind compounds with being fluid so it makes more sense to look at moving images. This allows them to fully understand the effects of combining elements together.

5. CRISPR-Cas9 in Clinical Trials

This gene-editing technology has been building an aura of excitement around it for year now and is nor being tested on humans. T cells will be removed from a cancer patient, the cell modified and delivered back into the same patient to see if it is safe to use in humans. This revolutionary technique of gene-editing offers a new chance in the fight against all kinds of diseases we face as a society.